Summarizing Banfield, Brooks notes that in Southern Italy, very few people trust anyone outside of their immediate family, or kin. As a result, the businesses in that area, are all, as a result, very small. By contrast, Germany and Japan are safe societies where there is a lot of inherent trust. Accordingly, large corporations can and do thrive in Germany and Japan.

This concept really struck me: to see our lives in terms of trust. I began to think in terms on many levels.

I thought of a long list of people and entities, of who and what I felt I could, and could not, trust.